The Lagoon at Epperson is the first Crystal Lagoon® project built in the United States. The unique project uses a proprietary system that was developed in Chile to create an approximately 7.5-acre lagoon with a surface area of 328,739 square feet and a water volume of approximately 14,525,321 gallons – more than 20 times the surface area and volume of an Olympic-size swimming pool. Along the amenity’s 4,382 linear foot perimeter, the Lagoon features sandy beaches, a swim-up bar and private cabana areas.

For the construction of the Lagoon’s 7.5-acre structural concrete shell, the project team had to ensure the site was excavated to the proper grade, shape and contour for the pool. To accomplish this, the team flew drones to capture real-time data from the field and process it into 3D models that integrate with the design and surveying software. Using photos captured by the drone, the project team converted the images to meshes and point clouds with millions of data points. Overlaying this data onto the design files improved the team’s accuracy, efficiency and quality control to add value to the project in a low-cost way.